Sword Art Online: The Black Swordsman Arc 1 Return
by Cr1mson219
Summary: The players of SAO never got their black coated hero, instead they received the Grim Reaper himself, concealed within a steel mask. The glowing red eyes are know to all Sword Art Online survivors. The game has been beat and all are free, but the reapers work is not complete. Not all is as it seem as the survival of many and the telling of this story falls to one orange haired girl.
1. Chapter 1 - ESSENCE OF THE PAST

"**We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." **

― **Plato**

**May 24th 2026**

The bookstore doorbell chimed as its latest customer walked out into the sun pelted streets of Nishitōkyō. While most would be excited to have their latest purchase within their grasp, the small petite figure felt as two worlds weighed down on her palm. Spotting a bench off to the side of the walkway she gracefully slid into the seat and held up the monochrome book.

"**SAO Incident Report"**

The cover held a stark contrast silhouette of a castle. A place she had almost called home in a different time, a different life.

Though home wasn't supposed to be the place of your greatest fears, the spawning grounds of your nightmares and the graveyard for so many of your friends. Stopping that train of thought before it broke the already fragile dam she flipped to first page. The table of contents was smaller than she expected, containing a mere 10 chapters. Most of the book was dedicated to those on the frontlines and personal stories shared by some players who were stable enough to share. Taking a few seconds to flip to the final two pages of the book she found the section she wanted. The first page contained a disclaimer and the rights to distributing the sketch. No photos of the second page's contents actually existed due to the place it had existed being completely virtual. Clearly not everyone was thrilled to see the face of the most feared creature in all of Sword Art Online. Sighing she flipped the page.

…..

While just a sketch, she had to admit it certainly looked like the spectre of death that stood before her all those years ago. The glowing red eyes that stared back at her no longer drove her to panic like they might have 3 years prior though. As she looked at them, all she found was pity, longing and sadness. She hated that mask and she was sure it had as well. Looking down at the biography which was relatively small she read information she had already memorized extensively.

Name: The Black Swordsman

Age: Unknown

Sex: Male

Little to nothing is know about the The Black Swordsman, aside from being the most feared player in Aincrad. A server check confirmed the player was responsible for the deaths of 45 Players in Aincrad. The majority of these players were known to be participating in a guild called "Laughing Coffin". The guild was known to be extremely violent towards all other players and have been found guilty of at least 120 murders game wide. The rest of the kills The Black Swordsman are against players who seemingly have no connection to Laughing Coffin or any other crime affiliated groups.

The Black Swordsman's Identity still remains unknown though various rumors float around his continued existence. Sightings such as the VRMMO Gun Gale Online in the "bullets of Bullets" tournament, reportedly sniper class player Sinon was the final contestant along with The Black Swordsman. Due to the requested privacy the event has been kept under a need to know basis to the general public, but the Japanese government assures all residents and former SAO players the supposed swordsman was a mere imposter.

Sinon, the blue haired sniper, one of GGO's strongest players, a true master of her rifle. GGO was the girls life, not only did it pay the bills but it was her home. A place where the girl could be herself. She understood what it was like, to be the strongest in one world and utterly helpless in another. When she had encountered him for the first time, there had been some semblance of strength, though it had only been present with her lack of understanding to who she faced. The spectre of death had stood silently over her, simply watching. When she had realized who she was dealing it had already been too late. The girl stood no chance, panic had taken over and yet the sword never struck her. In the end Death had come for the last surviving Laughing coffin member Death Gun. A player hiding in GGO trying to make it another SAO. Nobody was able to find him after The Black Swordsman had killed his in game avatar, but she and Sinon knew. He would never walk this Earth again, never hurt anyone again and for that she supposed she could thank him.

She still remembered watching the broadcast of the tournament, seeing death gun make his appearance with that mask. Its mask, how did he get it? Why was he masquerading around as The Black Swordsman? It only took a hour for her to realize that he was also in with them. Walking around the dead streets of future Earth with Sinon no less. The girl had been petrified of the spectre that followed her around but still worked with him surprisingly. When Death Gun had shown up it would be a understatement to say he tried to escape. He had begged death not to take him, even removing his own mask revealing himself to be Red Eyed Xaxa from laughing coffin. It hadn't mattered in the end, The Black Swordsman cut Xaxa down without remorse, still it had taken him awhile to die. Death had leaned in his ear and said words that couldn't be picked up by the broadcaster, though if she were being honest with herself she couldn't help but feel happy about it.

The words spoken there wouldn't be said with warmth, instead it would be a promise of death. Right after the DEAD emblem had appeared over Xaxa, The Black Swordsman turned his attention back to Sinon. The stare had lasted only 10 seconds at the most yet it felt as if a lifetime passed. The girl was on the verge of breaking down out of fear before death blew one more gust of steam from his helmet and teleported. Some say he logged out or just disappeared as all ghosts eventually do. In the end Sinon was pronounced Champion of GGO, The Black Swordsman and Xaxa not being seen again. The next morning she had taken a cab to see Sinon, only to find the door locked and muffled cries behind it. A hour of coaxing and reassuring lead to the door opening and a devastated girl that reminded her all too well of herself.

She explained that a player named The Black Swordsman had approached during the final round of the tournament while Sinon had being traversing one of the last intact bridges in the surrounding area. Assuming him to be a regular player Sinon had fired round after round from her rifle only to have them destroyed by a blood red saber. Something she had claimed to be impossible when he had approached her and held the blade to her throat. His only response had been to blow a cloud of steam into her face and send her a party request, all the while holding her at the blades point. She accepted begrudgingly and followed him throughout the city striking down all that came in their path. Sinon believed they made a decent team at first, she handled any long range opponents while he handled the rain of bullets that struck their position and anyone foolish enough to step within his grasp.

She recalled one player attempting to strike him down with a concealed knife in a desperate attempt to live. He had simply and shockingly grabbed the man by his throat and lifted him up. From there he simply squeezed all the while holding in front of the shots of other players. Sinon told her then while he lifted the man it had allowed her a view of the man's belt. It contained his sword and while that would be normal for him, the fact stoof that he still held his crimson blade in his other hand.

Dual Wield. The same skill The Black Swordsman had possessed back in SAO. A skill supposedly impossible in the world of GGO. It was then she knew. Sinon had heard the rumours. What VR player hadn't? The Black Swordsman was known by all, from small town boy gamer, to the president of Japan himself. The self proclaimed god of death himself. The beater of SAO and murderer of innocent and guilty alike. The girl went into a panic right there and had almost been blown into oblivion if The Black Swordsman hadn't picked her up and dived into a underground parking garage before the entire area was destroyed by rockets and other explosives. The other contestants had taken notice of death and teamed together in a attempt to destroy him before he took everyone out. It didn't work of course, a hour later a black clad leather sleeve and glove burst through the rubble and murdered everyone in his path. It was there where he found Xaxa and Sinon caught up. She had been unconscious in the aftermath of the attack and woke to find a huge hole in the rubble covering the garage entrance. When she caught up Xaxa had already been cut into pieces. He still screamed as The Black Swordsman spoke his final words to him. She never heard them even with the loud monotone voice modulator he possessed. When the system pronounced Xaxa dead he looked to her before almost in a sullen state, all the while observing her. She believed he almost looked tired.

That night was probably the worst she had ever experienced as she moved all her furniture to cover her door. She had stayed in her bathtub in a attempt to curb the nightmares. Not that she had slept that night. Glowing red eyes had imprinted themselves into her very thoughts. Luckily the girl was aware enough to recall and share the story.

One more sigh escaped her lips as she thought of the event again, that had been months ago and she was still no closer to finding him. Argo had told her of a possible lead in ALO but she doubted anything would come out of it. All of his actions seemed random but she could sense a agenda, maybe not his own but one nonetheless. Some part of that thought terrified her and the other faith, he always had a plan. She had seen the intelligence behind that red iris the day the helmet had cracked in a blue shower of diamond pixels.

"Asuna!" Startled out of her thoughts she looked up to see the gang approaching. Looks like she had been found, had she been out that long? A look at her watch confirmed she had been sitting there for almost a hour. The sun had moved quite a bit in her past induced trance. The source of her name being called moved in front of her as she stood up to stretch. Lizabeth.

She held a beaming smile on her face till she looked down. Fear flashed through her hazelnut eyes as the books red one's stared back.

"Why" Her now toneless voice asked, only with a hint of malice though not at her. It didn't really come across as a question, not that it would have mattered as she didn't have a answer, not one that would make sense anyways. Smiling sadly she closed the book and stood.

"I need answers" While true it didn't hold the complete truth, too much had been left unanswered and yet still some part of her. a part of her she didn't understand cried out to see him again.

"We all need answers Asuna, but he's not the one who will give them, all he gives is pain". Her frown no longer held the disgust it held moments ago, now it was just contained, exhaustion defeat, and sadness. Lisbeth wanted to forget. Most of the survivors did, and in some way she supposed she wanted to as well. All the faces of those she knew and cared for who perished before her eyes. Even the boy she only knew for a few days. His name still cemented into her brain the day she had visited the iron palace only to see his name crossed out. A part of her died that day too, surprising as she never even really held a conversation with him. She hadn't given him the chance, even though he mentored her, taught her how to survive, to live and love life even when all was lost. She had never thanked him, it was her greatest regret, a decision that had seemed so insignificant yet almost stole her sanity the day she found out.

When she awoke she spent weeks searching for someone, anyone to find out. Eventually she had tracked down a government official by the name of Kikuoka Seijirou. He was tasked with interviewing SAO survivors and with her cooperation and some information, he told her what he found on the boy.

**Name: Kirito**

**Age: 15**

**Sex: Male **

**Death: June 22, 2023, Player PK'd by The Black Swordsman**

**END CHAPTER ONE: ESSENCE OF THE PAST**


	2. Chapter 2 - A FUTURE WITHIN REACH

"**Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires." **

― **William Shakespeare**

**May 24th 2026**

It was cold, or so he guessed, his life had seized to be warm many years ago.

It was also wet judging by the murky water that had long since soaked into his boots. It didn't matter, he felt nothing anyways.

The only thing registering in the void that was his mind were the sounds. Someone was approaching, several someone's if the splashes his audio receptors picked up were anything to go by. It hadn't taken them long to find him , something that should have been impossible. He had covered his tracks well, making sure to go to a place few would travel. The several forms of monsters down here were numerous and hard to bring down with only bullets. For a sword it would be outright impossible, meant to give off the impression he wouldn't come this far. A ruse of course, he knew he could come here, he could go anywhere these days. Therefore making the GM's the most likely to have reported his location. The only figures of power capable of authorizing such a thing would have been the Japanese government itself, cementing the knowledge that the footsteps were most likely a VR strike force. Highly trained Infantry units tasked to escort government officials into harsh conditioned VRMMO environments.

Obviously they had come far for him, so he would be sure to reward their patience. His closed eyes could still remember his surroundings well, he stood in a dirt coloured sewer bathed in darkness. There was no electricity this far away from the main city. He had stopped his trek awhile ago to regain order to his thoughts. Often he found himself forgetting more important things lately.

Why, was here again? The reason just escaping his thoughts as he tried to think on his actions in the last 2 hours. The tournament. The blue haired sniper… Xaxa.

That was it, the man was the last one to escape him. From him, the game, the justice system and his own justice. Now the rat laid in pieces in some old abandoned warehouse. He had tracked him down after SAO was concluded, keeping tabs on his movements. It had been around that point in time that Xaxa had discovered Gun Gale Online. Once a murderer, always a murderer. He couldn't be trusted to return to his old ways of living civilly before the game. So along with Xaxa he entered the tournament, partly out of a need to see this new world. While dead, coarse and outright foul, it held a certain beauty to it. It suited him in a way. Cruel, unforgiving and deadly to all who traversed into it. But now that Laughing Coffin was all but gone perhaps the hiding, running and murdering could end. All he needed to do now was deal with the scum who dared approached him. He would crush them like a insect under his boot.

The splashes were much closer now. He could hear the telltale murmur of voices and static replies. As Lights began to light up the slick walls on either side of him, his mind travelled back to a time where happiness was as close as it was now, just within his grasp. The time he could feel something other than this numbness. It had come from the only pure thing in that game. A world long dead.

It possessed a breathtaking smile, one that radiated confidence, yet was truly kind. Soft orange hair that appeared almost golden flowed from its head to gracefully rest down a slender framed back. Finally its eyes, her eyes, sparkling amber that held so much yet gave away so little, strong yet aware, hopeful yet careful. Her eyes could hid little from him though, at least not what she had thought of him. Hate, fear, pity. Something he had never wanted from anyone, he stopped caring about pity the day he was born amidst the corpse's of those he once called friends. Hate and fear were things he thrived off of, it made his enemies weak and gave him power over everything else, even himself.

And yet day he had seen the fear and hate from those eyes, he had been left with a unyielding coldness. Those eyes shouldn't have known fear. They shouldn't have hated anything, certainly not a creature so far below her. She should have been happy, in love ,cared for. Things that despite all he represented, all he was, wanted to give her. To make her happy, to smile on him, enjoy his presence. Obviously it wasn't to be, he was a criminal, a murderer and above all a monster. The day he realized the inevitable truth had been the same day he came to hate the mask since donning it. His face, his voice, his true self, all trapped, never to show her just how much he cared, loved and worshipped. He wanted to build her into the goddess she was always meant to be. Yet he could never fully approach her. She would kill him, or at least try to. Nobody could kill him. Nobody or nothing would ever come close. With that final deafening truth ringing in his mind, red orbs flashed open to take in the company of soldiers standing before him.

"Command this is team 2, we have the target in sight, requesting orders" The reply was never heard by him, not that he cared, only one thought ran through him.

He would show her. He would show the world, The Black Swordsman lived and soon, it would all be his

"Command I- OH SHI-."

"Die"

**END CHAPTER TWO: A FUTURE WITHIN REACH**


	3. Chapter 3 - A SUITED CATALYST ARRIVES

It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills, It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter. ? J.R.R. Tolkien

May 24th 2026 Team one, report in Wet splashes of footsteps echoed down the ancient half collapsed sewer with occasional beams of light reflecting off the shiny mold-ridden walls.  
Team leader one reporting in The response traveled down the tunnel for several seconds before vanishing into the darkness. He didn't like this, the target would hear them coming from a mile away at this rate. He and his team weren't ready for this, close quarter combat without the element of surprise. It was dangerous. Too dangerous.  
Team one what's your mission status? Shit show, soon to be a shit storm as soon as they were attacked, but ever the good soldier he played his part.  
No sign of target, expected time of contact is unknown, but he s down here sir. Oh he was and he knew they were there down there too, there was no way he couldn't have detected them by now. This job was supposedly going to be simple yet his gut told him otherwise. Escort two government officials into one of the many sewer systems littered across the dead landscape of GGO. From there they would issue a warrant of arrest to the player rumoured to be down here. Easy enough.  
Until the briefing room screens lit up with surveillance images of VRMMO s greatest known serial killer.  
He didn't get paid enough for this. While he and his team were government trained operatives tasked with tracking down known criminals in VRMMO s after SAO, there wasn't exactly a protocol for apprehending current murderers seeing as how the amusphere had stopped such a possibility. So it was safe to say the majority of men moving through the brown waters of the sewer knew how the operation would turn out. If half the rumors were true then they would be respawning in the main city very shortly. Yet the two suits that followed at the center of the formation seemed comfortable like this was some Sunday stroll. He had never learned their names nor had they felt the need to give them. When they had climbed out of their humvee s at the sewer entrance, command had simply ordered the operation to start. And what a start it was. No contact with the target or the other two deployed teams, which had relocated to separate corridors. To make matters worse after separating with the other teams and walking about a half hour his the point man reported seeing the logout option absent. The suits offhandedly mentioned it was a function of the maps layout. He had almost shot them there, he hadn't been briefed on that, what the hell was command thinking. So his thoughts returned to silently cursing command, the suits and the creature that was certainly stalking them.

His mood continued down that road for the next 3 minutes before command commed back.  
Team One be advised we have lost contact with teams two and three, what's your status? Not really a surprise but shocking all the same, he should have heard gunshots, screams, anything really to suggest a battle, but the silence had ensued during the death of roughly 16 men. Just as the request to return back to the convoy was about to leave his mouth his point man halted raising an arm in the air.  
Contact sir Straining his eyes he lifted his flashlight down the corridor. Nothing. The darkness seemed to swallow any light that traveled through it.  
Where? 30 meters sir, directly in front. Once again aiming his light into the abyss, he still saw nothing and almost called out the point man, until the light reflected off of a metal surface. As soon as the light touched it two eyes opened to stare back at him, red orbs sparking to life. The red beams danced off its helmet and into the steam it released creating a floating red fog in front of it.

He could say with conviction right there was where everything went to shit. The light from the flashlights and the figures eyes cast a clear image of the walkways on either side of it. Small lumps of black and bright red littered the walkways. Team 2 s members laid in pieces all over, arms, and entire torso s floated and rested in molded cement and brown murky water. A graveyard was what the tunnel had become in seconds. He was staring at his own watery tomb. Time seemed to stand still while he looked in the eyes of death. He was frozen from shock and yet his mouth still had the strength to move. Suits, your up Only silence returned though. His legs started to come back to him as he rotated his body to see the men while still keeping an eye on the specter that just watched them. They were also frozen. Most of his team was as well by the looks of it. Praying to god that hitting the comm button wouldn't set the behemoth of a creature off he pressed a gloved finger down onto the walkie talkie. Command, team leader reporting, the target is in front of us, requesting instructions. Static filled the hallway as the signal died.

He hated this fucking job. The specter took a step forward and he gave the command.  
FIRE AT WILL! Only a second later red fire blazed from each team members rifles and towards death. In the flash of an eye a blood red saber ignited and danced in front of the Grim reaper deflecting and incerating any bullets that came close enough to it. Two men dropped lifelessly to the ground instantly having their own 5.56mm rounds turned against them. The bullets had smashed through their faceplates leaving the eyes of his point man staring up at him like a recent drunk. After another two men fell prey to their own ammunition he ordered a flash grenade up front an gave the order to retreat. With four men pointlessly dead and the behemoth still advancing he could consider the mission a failure and get the hell out of there.

Command! Team One pulling out! I repeat we are pulling out! He didn't t expect a reply from the usually somber and cold members of their command structure so it came as a surprise when a rushed reply came from his comm. Negative Team One, your squad's orders are to hold the line while the operatives are extracted by you. Get those men to the surface. The suits must have heard the response or they had their own comm set (wouldn t be a huge surprise with everything going on around him) as they made their way over to him and looked expectantly.  
His team was now down to 8 members with all the front line men laying in pieces around the swordsman. They didn't have much time.

Turning to his right-hand man, who already was awaiting orders, he gave a grim smile and gave the appropriate hand signal. *Hold your ground*. For a brief second the soldier looked wholly amused until he remembered what he was holding against. The man nodded and turned his weapon back to the dark spectre that currently was dislodging their machine gunner from his blade.

Trusting the orders where properly received he turned back to the suits who were looking pale. To be honest he probably was too. Nodding in the direction of the sewer entrance the three started their jog to safety with the sound of the red saber swings and the rapidly quieting billet fire. They ran for about 5 minutes before the first suit collapsed. New avatars with no stamina invested points. Useless. The water soaked his pants and sleeves as he desperately sucked in air. Exhaustion had nothing to do with it either. They were terrified. Or at least he and the one suit where. The other had been rather sullen and even more quiet. Not that either of them had really even talked anyways. But the one suit seemed to be more professional at least from his point of view. He knew he had a job. Deep in his thoughts, he had failed to notice the now still chamber around them. The bullets had stopped firing, as nobody was left to shoot them. They were the only ones left now. Straightening up now that his stamina was full again he motioned again towards the entrance and their exit to this hell. Just as he and the standing suit started walking the one on the ground started screaming.

He whipped the barrel of his gun a moment to later as a grip of steel surrounded his throat and he was suddenly a lot higher than before.

As the grip tightened he felt his weapon slip from his fingers falling limply into the murky water. His feet where also kicking a lot less. How long had he been up here? Looking down within more focus in his quickly failing vision he stared into crimson orbs.

The hand around his jugular tightened even more to the point where he heard the snap of his own neck, his vision disappearing with any feeling in his body, but the red eyes still imprinted in the dark. The last thing he heard was the scream of a the slumped suit. Where was the other one? Too many questions...

He hated his fucking job.

END CHAPTER THREE: A SUITED CATALYST ARRIVES


End file.
